US investigates leak of classified documents on Israel's plans to strike Iran The United States is examining an unauthorized release of classified documents that interpret Israel's plans to attack Iran, three US officials announced to The Associated Press. A fourth US official announced the documents appear to be legitimate.
The documents are attributed to the US Geospatial Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, and note that Israel was still moving military assets in place to conduct a military strike in response to Iran's blistering ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1. They were sharable within the “Five Eyes,” which are the US, Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
The documents, which are marked teetotum secret, were posted to the Telegram messaging app and first declared by CNN and Axios. The officials verbalized on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to dialogue the matter publicly.
The investigation is also acquitting how the documents were obtained – including whether it was a deliberate leak by a member of the US intelligence community or obtained by another method, like a hack – and whether any other intelligence information was compromised, one of the officials said. As part of that investigation, officials are working to determine who had inherit to the documents before they were posted, the official said.
The US has inspired Israel to take advantage of its elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and cheer for a cease-fire in Gaza, and has likewise urgently warned Israel not to further expand military operations in the north in Lebanon and risk a wider regional war. However, Israel's leadership has repeatedly prioritised it will not let Iran's missile attack go unanswered.
In a statement, the Pentagon disclosed it was aware of the discloses of the documents but did not have further comment.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the leak of the two documents.
The documents first appeared online Friday via a channel on Telegram, claiming they had been leaked by someone in the US intelligence community, then later the US Defense Department. The information appeared utterly huddled through the use of satellite image analysis.
One of the two documents resembled the style of other material from the US National Geospatial Intelligence Agency leaked by Jack Teixeira, an Air National Guardsman who pleaded guilty in March to leaking highly classified military documents about Russia’s war on Ukraine and other national security secrets.
The Telegram channel involved in the leak identifies itself as being based in Tehran, Iran's capital. It previously published memes prioritizing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and material in champion of Tehran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance,” which includes Middle East militant groups armed by the Islamic Republic.
Regards to France 24
Category: World-News
Tag: US investigates leak of classified documents on Israel039s plans to strike Iran
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Published 10/20/2024